The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems (IHSs), and more particularly to a failure notification system for access point IHS group controllers.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Some IHSs include network connectivity and control functionality that allows those IHSs to communicate with other IHSs in order to coordinate into controller groups such that one of the IHSs in the controller group may control at least some functions of the other IHSs in that controller group. For example, wireless access point IHSs allow client devices to connect to a wired network using wireless communication technologies (e.g., WiFi wireless communication technologies), and some wireless access point IHSs may be configured to communicate with each other to form an access point IHS group that provides a client device the ability to access the wired network over a larger physical area than any single access point IHS may provide while only having to provide a single set of access credentials. In such access point IHS groups, an access point IHS group controller may either be provided (e.g., as a dedicated access point IHS group controller or as an access point IHS with controller functionality) to perform control functionality for the group. The failure of such access point IHS group controllers raises a number of issues.
For example, in conventional access point IHS group systems, when the access point IHS group controller fails, the access point IHSs in that access point IHS group are unaware of that failure and will continue to attempt to communicate with the failed access point IHS group controller for some predetermined amount of time before assuming that that access point IHS group controller has failed. Following that predetermined amount of time, each access point IHS in the access point IHS group will then communicate with other access point IHSs in the access point IHS group to attempt to locate another access point IHS group controller. As such, following the failure of an access point IHS group controller of an access point IHS group, each of the access point IHSs in that access point IHS group will spend a relatively significant amount of time attempting to communicate with the failed access point IHS group controller. During that time, controller functionality is lost, which can result in an inability to authenticate client devices, allocate Internet Protocol Addresses, manage client devices, and/or provide client devices access to the network.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a failure notification system for access point IHS group controllers.